Henry I crowned King of England

August 5, 1100

Rushing ahead of his absent elder brother Robert, Henry swore a Coronation Charter promising to end his predecessor's abuses. The document, hastily drafted to buy baronial loyalty, would be dusted off a century later as a template for Magna Carta. Henry sealed it three days after his brother's suspicious death in the New Forest, moving with a speed that suggested the succession had been long rehearsed.